Free Unknown by Unknown Page B

minimum. Crockery was piled haphazardly on the dusty Welsh dresser and when Davina investigated the sink unit, the only concession to modern living in the room, packets of old detergent and cleaning utensils fell out, along with pans which looked as if their last scrub had been of the hit-or-miss variety.
    She thrust them back and straightened to find Rex watching with an unfathomable expression in his hooded eyes which put her on her guard. Instead of the reproaches she had intended making to him for being persuaded to buy such a neglected property she asked simply, ‘Wouldn’t it be a good idea to unload the Land Rover before dark? If you’ll show me how that portable stove of yours works I’ll soon have a meal on the table. But perhaps you’d better turn on the electricity first. It must be off at the mains,’ she added, flicking the switch up and down without results.
    ‘We’ll have to make do with candles and lamps until I can get the generator going,’ came Rex’s suspiciously innocent reply, then as Davina’s brown eyes widened in amazement he added, ‘They aren’t on the mains up here, I fear. They make their own electricity, but I shall have to fix the dynamo first.'
    It was by now patently obvious to Davina that for reasons of his own Rex had deliberately kept her in ignorance of the true state of the farmhouse, but she determined to conceal the dismay beginning to creep over her. After all, it wasn’t as if she had always been accustomed to every convenience. Until five years ago their cottage in Wales had sported a smaller edition of the monstrous range on the other side of the room. She smiled as she recalled her mother’s endeavours to get it removed.
    There was little chance of that happening here, Davina thought as Rex went away to begin unloading. She would just have to learn to live with it. A little more exploration revealed a big walk-in larder with a Calor gas refrigerator, and another door led into a bathroom.
    At least there wasn’t outdoor sanitation to add to the drawbacks facing her, she thought with relief as she stripped off her raincoat and gingerly hung it on a rusting hook behind the kitchen door. Removing the newspapers from the table she piled them into the empty grate and ten minutes later, sleeves rolled up, was busily scrubbing the kitchen table and the draining board.
    The kettle was singing on the small portable Calor gas stove ready for rinsing, and its purchase had been no guard against a possible contingency. Before they started out, Rex must have been well aware of what awaited them at journey’s end, for he had not needed to go and investigate to tell her about the electricity supply. Just what was he up to? Davina wondered, as she poured the boiling water into her bucket and began finishing off the table top.
    A camp bed under each arm, Rex stopped beside her. ‘Seeing you now, who would believe only a few days ago you were queening it in a mansion in Switzerland?’ he remarked as she gave a last wipe to the table. She stared as he put down one bed and carried the other through to the hall, a frown between her clear eyes. So that was what he thought! That she liked' pretending she had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. There had been no mistaking the hint of malice in his deep drawl and she could not help wondering what she had done to incur such disapproval.
    But there was no time to try and analyse Rex’s strange behaviour if they were to eat this evening. The household pottery and pans were so obviously, in their present state, unfit for use, so Davina opened the trunk and got out her own.
    That was one thing Rex had overlooked, she thought with satisfaction as she found a pretty tablecloth and set one end of the table with her rose-patterned crockery. She slapped lamb chops, sausages, tomatoes and mushrooms into her nonstick frying pan and set them to cook on the small portable stove. Uncovering a large crusty loaf, butter, cheese and a bag of apples